Families - Feminism

Question 1

Different feminist approaches to family life

Answer 1

• Liberal feminists - saw a march of progress towards gender equality at home and in wider society through reforming existing laws
• Marxist feminists - challenged traditional gender roles at home examining the unpaid labour of women and the expectations of society on women to look after their husbands
• Radical feminists - critical of marriage, seeing it as an unequal institution that was patriarchal in nature and where men used financial and physical power to control women

Question 2

Liberal Feminism

Answer 2

• Changes to social policies that have impacted on the role of women in the family
• Encouraging employment
  1. Equal pay act
  2. Sex Discrimination Act
  3. Equality Act
• Control over reproductive rights
  1. Family planning act
• Martial Right
  1. Divorce reform
  2. Exclusion of Marital Rape Clause

Question 3

Marxists Feminism

Answer 3

• Impacts of unpaid labour in the home
  1. Dual Burden
  2. Triple Shift
• Expectations of women providing support to workers
  1. slaves of wage slaves
• Women’s exploitation in the labour market - reserve army of labour

Question 4

Radical Feminism

Answer 4

• Men’s use of coercive power over women - domestic violence
  1. Physical
  2. Psychological
  3. Sexual
  4. Financial
• Male dominance in decision making
• social expectations on women to be the housewife and mother
• Gender socialisation of girls into stereotypical roles

Question 5

Post-Structural and Postmodern Feminism

Answer 5

• Different experiences of women and the kinship networks they form with in laws and their friends

Question 6

Neo-liberal feminism

Answer 6

• Expectations upon females in society to have it all
• Increased pressure in work
• Increased pressure of family life
• Increased expectations of personal life, including appearance

Question 7

Relevance of feminist ideas

Answer 7

• Applied to topic areas such as gender roles and relationships in the family, social policy and changing relationships in the family
• Also relevance to postmodern and late modern view of family life
• Links to changing forms of families - impact of feminism has shaped different family forms and demographic changes

Question 8

Evaluation of feminist ideas

Answer 8

• Agreed by some critics to lack a coherent approach to the role of women in contemporary society, undermining the choice of some women to adopt to traditional values
• Intersectionality of women’s experiences - feminist have been criticised for focusing on the experiences of white M/C women and ignoring the differences of women of colour, disability, sexuality and lower social classes